Having already stopped off at Grandpa’s Cheesebarn and Sweeties, our food tour continued in Cleveland when we stopped for a late lunch at Melt Bar & Grilled.
Melt is a grilled cheese restaurant that has over a dozen locations throughout Ohio; we were sure to visit their Lakewood restaurant though as it’s their original location.
The Lakewood location opened in 2006 and has since appeared on Man Vs Food and Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives. In fact, the restaurant has a picture of Guy Fieri on the wall from when he visited.
Despite its popularity, the restaurant was fairly quiet seeing as we visited at 3pm on a Thursday. There was therefore plenty of available seating and we decided to sit by the window.
The restaurant has great decor with all kinds of framed Cleveland-themed paraphernalia over the walls. There are also loads of tour posters from bands ranging from Nine Inch Nails to The Doors.
Continuing the music theme, I loved their food menus as they were on the back of album covers.
Before deciding on what to eat, we checked out their extensive drinks menu.
Shae was driving, so I ordered a Fat Head Goggle Fogger. It was a lighter hefeweizen than I’m used to, but it still tasted good.
With beer in hand, it was time to decide what to eat. Melt Bar & Grilled’s specialty is grilled cheese sandwiches, but they also have several other options.
I’ve mentioned before that I don’t like cheese, but thankfully Melt is very accommodating for all kinds of dietary requirements and preferences. You can therefore order a grilled cheese sandwich minus the cheese which I greatly appreciated.
So many of the flavors looked great, but I ended up ordering the chorizo & potato grilled cheese sandwich. You get a choice of fries, kettle chips or a vinegar-based spicy coleslaw as a side. Despite not particularly enjoying the last vinegar-based coleslaw I tried at Jestine’s in Charleston SC, I figured I’d give Melt’s a try, particularly because it was also meant to be somewhat spicy.
You also get the choice between a half or whole sandwich. Our friend Megan had mentioned that even a half sandwich is filling, so that’s what I went for. Both the sandwich and coleslaw were delicious and Megan was right – half a sandwich was plenty.
Shae ordered the Cleveland Cheese Steak which comes with braised pulled beef brisket, garlic mushrooms, sauteed onions, rosemary onion ailoi and provolone. It usually also comes with peppers, but she asked for that to be left off. For a side, she went for the kettle chips.
She loved her sandwich as well. I tried a couple of her kettle chips and they were tasty too.
Megan was the most adventurous of the three of us as she ordered the Korean War Pig. That comes with Korean BBQ glazed boneless pork spare ribs, kimchi slaw, pear onion cilantro relish and muenster cheese with a side of fries.
I tried a bit of hers (minus the cheese of course) and it was amazingly flavorful. If (or more like when) we return to Melt Bar & Grilled, this’ll be what I’ll order.
Their strawberry shortcake bread pudding looked tempting, but a) I was full and b) we already had plans to get donuts from Brewnuts, so I passed on dessert.
If you’re feeling ravenous when walking into Melt though, check out their Melt Challenge. This eating challenge consists of three slices of grilled bread, 12 cheeses, a pile of fries, coleslaw and pickles for $40. If you complete the challenge, you’ll get a shirt or pint glass, a $10 gift card and high fives from the staff!
Final Thoughts
For food that’s fun, delicious and incredibly filling, Melt Bar & Grilled is the place for you. Their creative grilled cheese sandwich options will definitely have you coming back for more, as will their great beer and cocktail menus.
We might’ve just lucked out the day we visited, but our server was also extremely friendly and helpful, so that was an added bonus.
Our Rating
Food = 4.7 / 5
Price = 4.2 / 5
Atmosphere = 4.5 / 5
Decor = 4.7 / 5
Service = 4.8 / 5
Total = 4.58 / 5
Address
There are more than a dozen Melt locations throughout Ohio, but we visited the Melt Bar & Grilled at 14718 Detroit Ave, Lakewood, OH 44107.
Im disappointed in how much the melt has changed im sitting here rite now n its so different from my 1st experience which was amazing my boyfriend n i sat at the bar ordered the whole parm. Not only was it freakin huge but delicious cheese dripping ectasy the bar tender was attentive funny n made a great drink. Food so good I ordered a second helping to take to work the next day. Now second visit im at a table with him n he order what we ate last time. Super small the downsized the fuck out of the sandwich and burned it! Wish i culd post the pic. No cheese dry bread hard n my wake n bake bread was hard they changed that too.
Buffalo tenders weirdly wet like slimey not spicey tasteless fries horrible drink n overpaid for a buffalo mac n cheese five bucks for a small ass bowl that burger king give out in styrofoam for a dolla lol